Who is behind ActionStation?

Our members, our team, our volunteers, our Board

OUR MEMBERS

We are everyday people who want a democracy, an economy and a society that works for us. Being part of a likeminded community, we don’t just stick to one issue, but look for opportunities to create a more fair and flourishing world.

Whether we’re campaigning to get multinationals to contribute their fair share of taxes, end family poverty, stop the TPPA or save Campbell Live – what all our issues share is a broad commitment to fairness and the common good.

Yes we share core values, but as a community we won’t always agree all of the time. And we all have some issues that we feel more strongly about than others. So at ActionStation you can get more involved in the issues that you care most about, easily act on issues you care a little about and simply sit out the campaigns that don’t speak to you.

ActionStation members participate in large ways and small, online and on the streets, to make their voices heard – including:

Volunteering their time to help other ActionStation members launch their own campaigns successfully;

Reviewing campaign proposals to ensure they are consistent with community values; and

Funding every campaign ActionStation works on.

More than a quarter of million New Zealanders of all ages, ethnicities and political persuasion have invested their time, energy and money in campaigns they care about: from child poverty to corporate tax evasion, saving Campbell Live to stopping the TPPA.

Countering the narrative that Kiwis, especially young people, are apathetic or content with the status quo, ActionStation members have:

Written more than 10,000 individual submissions to Select Committees;

Made 30,000 phone calls or other personal forms of contact with MPs;

Contributed their stories to crowdsourced videos;

Chipped in to fund polling that’s highlighted public dismay on key issues like Kiwisaver’s unethical investments; and

Shown up in person to present petitions, participate in stunts and meet with Ministers.

OUR TEAM

Our team is made up of a small team of paid staff, a volunteer Board and many other volunteers.

Nina, Marianne, Rick and Laura

ActionStation exists to create change, not just add to the noise. So our team’s job is to direct members’ precious time energy for maximum impact, whatever we’re doing.

Our team don’t claim to be experts on every issue. What we do know how to do is bring large numbers of like-minded people together to create change.

2016 brought some changes to the team, Ryan moved on (but fear not, he hasn’t been lost to the good fight, he’s campaigning on human rights and race relations) and in his place we were joined by Rick Zwaan. In January, we'll welcome Eliot Pryor to the team (previously the Campaign Director at SAFE, and prior to that worked at Amnesty International) who will provide support to members running their own campaigns through the OurActionStation site.

If you're not yet familiar with OurActionStation, we made this handy video to explain what it's all about:

OUR VOLUNTEERS

Our regular volunteers in 2017 included:

Christopher

Ann

Mui Leng

Erica

Anna

Our volunteer Member Review Panel included:

Kyle MacDonald

Susi Newborn

Murdoch Stephens

Mandy Hager

Nick Young

Rebekah Sherriff

To read more about the Member Review Panel and their role, click here.

Christine Ammunson is a communications professional with 15-years senior government experience developing and managing successful public relations strategies for government and NGOs. She is passionate about human rights, and wants to help New Zealanders realise that human rights need to start here at home in Aotearoa with issues that impact all of our lives such as homelessness, poverty and abuse.

Graham Cameron has fifteen years direct involvement in governance and management roles in iwi, communities and neighbourhoods in Wellington and Tauranga Moana, and strong relationships with other iwi and communities throughout Aotearoa. He provides cultural supervision to local agencies, speaking to groups and organisations about community development and about biculturalism and the centrality of whakawhanaungatanga in engaging Māori communities.

Garth Nowland-Foreman has an extensive nonprofit governance experience. For six years he was national director of a major advocacy group for low-income and disadvantaged people in Australia. He has taught for 18 years in a graduate programme on not for profit leadership. Garth also brings strong political analysis - he ran a national advocacy nonprofit in Australia; operated in Cabinet minister's office, serviced a Parliamentary inquiry, participated in government advisory bodies; and managed a policy unit.

Allie Cunninghame is a litigator in a large national law firm. As well as bringing much needed legal expertise to the Board, Allie’s work with corporate and government clients, combined with her passion for social justice, diversity and sustainability, gives her an understanding of and tools to negotiate corporate and government worlds and aids her goal of facilitating positive change, step by step.